• Spain now ranked 26th of 28 European countries providing overseas aid
• Development aid slashed 73 pct since 2008, despite return to economic growth
Official Spanish government overseas development aid has fallen in tandem with federal budget cuts since Spain’s economic crisis of 2008-2010 and now stands at pre-2000 levels, ranking Spain 26th out of 28 countries in Europe in the provision of overseas aid to developing countries, according to a new report released by Oxfam Intermón, the Spanish affiliate of international development aid organisation Oxfam.
The government’s slashing of budget allocation for overseas aid has pushed Spain’s contribution far below even 2008 levels, according to the NGO’s just release report La Realidad de la Ayuda (‘The Reality of Aid’), with current overseas humanitarian and development assistance standing a full 73 percent below 2008, when Spain’s economic crisis began.
Despite the government’s promise to increase spending on overseas aid once the Spanish economy began its recovery, Oxfam Intermón’s report says that Spain’s official expenditures on development aid to poorer countries has continued to decline for each of the last three years, even as the government has announced an end to the recession and a return to economic growth. The result is that Spain currently occupies one of the lowest rungs on the scale of overseas aid contributions by 28 European countries, with only Slovakia and Poland contributing less.
► Read More in Spanish at Europa Press, Público and El Periódico …
► Read More about Oxfam Intermón’s ‘Realidad de la Ayuda’ report, here…
